Iran’s rial weakened on Thursday to about 1,180,000 per US dollar on Tehran’s unofficial market, roughly a week after the United Nations reimposed snapback sanctions, as President Masoud Pezeshkian urged cost-cutting and efficiency to shield households.
Traders also quoted the euro around 1,386,500 rials and the pound at about 1,591,200.
The UN measures, restored over Iran’s nuclear program, have added pressure to an economy already struggling with high inflation and repeated supply strains. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons.
Visiting Bandar Abbas on Thursday, Pezeshkian said savings and better management could soften the blow.
“We can organize livelihoods, living conditions and housing by saving 10% in costs, which is equivalent to $16–18 billion a year,” he said.
“They say with snapback, they will sanction you, while we have sanctioned ourselves,” he added, arguing that curbing waste and relying less on oil and gas would blunt external pressure.
“They scare us with snapback because we tied our life to oil and gas,” he said. “I think of a day when we have neither oil nor gas. Should we die?”
The president called for practical conservation across government. He said employees and managers could work in smaller offices and avoid unnecessary energy use, recalling that at the United Nations “the corridor was partitioned and managers worked there in 2-by-3 rooms, next to the Secretary-General’s office. In Iran, everyone has a room, and the secretary has a room. You can avoid keeping all the lights on.”
